Monday, December 27, 2010

Every Christmas, no matter where I am, it's important to my sisters and I that we have cardamom bread.We grew up having it every year, and have struggled a bit to make it gluten-free. One year we used a Bob's Red Mill mix and added some cardamom, but this was better. Add as much cardamom as you are comfortable with, some people can't stand it, so in that case, you could make this a good cinnamon loaf. I wouldn't though, this is too good and special. The loaf should be braided, but I just plopped it on a pan and let it do its thing. On the top should be pearl sugar, a large-grained sugar that doesn't dissolve during baking. I used regular granulated sugar because I forgot to get the special sugar, but it's really best with the good large kind. I wish we had Christmas more often so we could have this more often, but I don't want to eat it more and ruin the specialness.

Cardamom breadI used the recipe for the best gf bread I've found, just baked into a loaf.

3 eggs

1/4 c oil

1/4 c sugar plus 1 t plus 1 T

1 t cider vinegar

2 t vanilla

1 1/4 c milk, warm

1 t salt

1 T xanthan gum

1/3 c potato starch

1 1/2 c rice flour

1/2 c sorghum flour

1 c tapioca starch

1/3 c teff flour

1 T yeast

2 t cardamom

large grain sugar

Combine yeast, 1 t sugar, and milk in a bowl and let sit until foamy. Beat eggs in the mixer until combined. Add in oil, vinegar, and 1/4 c sugar. Dump in all the dry ingredients and the foamy, yeasty milk, and mix until everything is moistened. Scrape down the bowl, and then turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 4 minutes.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, and nudge around to form a loafy shape. Let rise for half an hour or so until doubled in size, then sprinkle with large grain sugar. Preheat the oven to 375, and place a pan with 1/2" of water on the bottom rack. When the oven is hot, bake about 30 minutes, or until bottom is well browned and loaf sounds hollow and looks done. Serve on Christmas morning.

This was the best one yet pumpkin! The cardamom wasn't overpowering, it had the right amount of sweetness, and was baked not a second over or under. It was very light and fluffy and, the way bread should be. Simply put, it was PERFECT!